Luna didn't understand people, sometimes. She was always honest, both with herself and others. She knew who she was and she was comfortable with being Luna, even if it meant that people didn't understand her, sometimes.
But she knew that, for whatever reason, most people weren't honest. There were some good reasons, she knew. But for the most part she couldn't understand it. She couldn't understand why some people would be nice to her and then talk about her when she wasn't there. She really preferred it when they let her know they thought she was odd, or that they didn't like her.
That being said, she liked having friends, once she finially did. She liked the way Harry had stood up for her on the train her fifth year. She liked that he'd asked her to go with him to the party, just as friends, although she still thought that it would have been much more fun if he'd kept his eyebrow yellow and let her do it, too.
Really, though, Harry was one of the people she understood least. She understood Ronald and Hermione. They were easy to understand. They both thought she was mad, and Hermione couldn't respect her because of it while Ronald couldn't take her seriously. But Harry? He didn't make sense to her.
There was something that tied them together, she knew that. But she couldn't figure out what it was. She could tell that Harry appreciated her. Far more than most people. She thought maybe he liked her honesty, even though it probably made him uncomfortable. It made most people uncomfortable. And of course she'd been there with him at the Ministry, and he'd said that it meant they were friends. Sometimes she thought he liked that she wasn't like everyone else, but sometimes he seemed even more insecure than usual and she thought he hated it. He said he didn't.
She had been surprised to get a letter from him, the first few times. But it was nice. She didn't know what he was doing, only that it suddenly seemed strange not to see him in the halls at Hogwarts. He couldn't tell her anything 'important', so his letters were sometimes very short, but she didn't mind. And sometimes they were very long, so that made up for the short ones, she thought. He always apologized if they were short. But, then, he also apologized if they were long. She didn't understand that.
She was invited to Ronald's family's house, the Burrow, for Christmas. That was even more surprising than Harry's first few letters. Somehow seeing him again and talking to him made her understand why he wrote to her. He seemed very tired, and she thought that things were so tiring for him with Ronald and Hermione, whatever they were doing that kept them from Hogwarts, that he just wanted to be able to write to her about things that weren't 'important'. She also thought that the long letters were actually from the times he was even more tired than he usually was, and the short ones were from times when he felt better.
She found out that she had been invited because of Harry. She didn't think Ronald's mother and father liked her very much. But they obviously liked Harry a lot, so she stayed in Percy's old room for a night. She remembered Percy Weasley, and wondered where he was.
The next day she'd left a little after supper, but not before Harry had insisted on talking with her in private. She didn't understand Harry, really. He'd talked about their friendship and writing to her and then he'd said he didn't want them to just be friends anymore. And he seemed upset when she told him she didn't understand. Well, maybe upset was the wrong word. Frustrated, then. And instead of explaining himself he'd given her a quick kiss. When she'd looked around for the mistletoe he'd left. He was upset, then.
His insecurity was part of why she couldn't understand Harry. He'd talk about how much he wanted to be 'normal', but then he'd say he loved that she wasn't and didn't care that she wasn't. Luna said she didn't think there really was a 'normal', that it was just as mythical as some people thought Snorkacks were. He'd laughed.
And then he'd asked her to go with him to that party as 'just friends', but now he said didn't want that. She didn't understand what he wanted if it wasn't for them to be friends. He'd never answer that question, and whenever she asked it he wouldn't mention anything about it for awhile. She wanted Harry to be her friend. She liked Harry. She liked getting the letters he sent, even if he couldn't use his beautiful snowy owl much. All he'd been able to tell her was that she was too easy to track. She sent him letters, too, and issues of The Quibbler.
Luna wished she'd been at the battle where Voldemort was defeated. When Harry woke up in the Hospital Wing and she told him that he said he was glad she hadn't been there.
It took a long time for Luna to understand Harry, really. It wasn't until Christmas her seventh year, when she was back at the Burrow, that everything made sense. She'd seen Harry several times on Hogsmeade weekends before then. He was training to become an Auror. And she still hadn't understood what he meant about their friendship. And then she did. But she couldn't believe it, somehow. They hadn't met up in Hogsmeade or written each other after Christmas. She hated that, and didn't understand why it was happening, if what Harry had said was true.
When he'd shown up at the office for The Quibbler a week after she'd finished Hogwarts she was finally able to both understand and believe him. He loved that she wasn't insecure when he was. He loved that she wasn't 'normal' either, whatever that was. He loved that she'd understood the letters her sixth year and not wanted more than that. He loved getting issues of The Quibbler.
He understood her and she understood him.
He loved her.
And this time she knew there was no mistletoe. And even if there had been, she wouldn't have cared about the Nargles.
